Low voter turnout in municipal polls

February 9, 2006
3 MIN READ
A
A+
A-

The municipal election held on Wednesday saw a very low voter turn out. The turn out was 20 percent on an average due to the boycott of the mainstream political parties.

According to election Commission (EC), the capital city of Kathmandu and surrounding municipalities witnessed a thin voter turnout. Only 14 percent of the voters cast their ballots in Kathmandu Metropolitan City. Among its three municipalities; Lalitpur sub-metropolitan city, Madhyapur Thimi municipality and Kirtipur municipality registered 18, 13 and 33 percent voter turnout respectively.

In Kathmandu, of the total 300,935 voters, only 45,003 people cast votes. In Lalitpur, 16,626 of 91,440 voters cast votes. Similarly, 3,793 of 29,991 voters voted in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality. In Kirtipur Municipality, out of 23,831 voters, only 7,870 cast their votes, according to the EC.

Nationwide, out of 1,443,310 voters, only 284,225 cast their votes in Wednesday’s election.

Voter turnout in the elections, which were held after seven years, was very low in most of the cities, reports said.

While voter turnout was the highest — 71 per cent — in Gaur Municipality of Rautahat district, the lowest turnout was recorded in Lekhnath Municipality of Kaski district, where only one percent of the voters cast votes.

Voter turnout was eight percent in Khandbari, four percent in Bharatpur, six percent in Pokhara and three percent in Tikapur.

The voter turnout at both Dhangadi and Mahendranagar stood at five percent.

Altogether 152 candidates were on the fray for the posts of mayors while 108 candidates competed for the posts of deputy mayors.

590 candidates fought for the post of ward chairpersons while 741 persons competed for the ward member posts and 191 candidates were on the fray for slots allotted to women.

Out 72 parties registered at the Election Commission, only 22 participated in the elections held in 36 out of 58 municipalities in 43 districts of the county.

Chief Election Commissioner Keshav Raj Rajbhandari(File Photo)

Chief Election Commissioner Keshav Raj Rajbhandari(File Photo)
Despite the low turnout, Chief Election Commissioner Keshav Raj Rajbhandari said, “The elections were held in peaceful atmosphere and the participation of voters was encouraging, despite political hurdles.”

Home Minister Kamal Thapa also said that the sovereign people have done the nation proud by voting to restore sustainable peace and re-energize multiparty democracy despite all threats. He expressed satisfaction over the turnout of the election.

“Despite the Maoists and the alliance call for active boycott of polls, the people have cast their votes with an enthusiastic zeal,” he added.

Meanwhile, the seven-party alliance on Wednesday said that the municipal polls conducted in 36 municipalities across the country were fully boycotted by people and were unsuccessful, adding, “The results of these polls would not be legitimate.”

Issuing a press statement, the alliance’s Central People’s Movement Coordination Committee said, “The drama of the so called election staged by misusing the state force and fund has become a total failure due to the people’s boycott.”